It said: "The victim... refused to accept a paltry payment from the government which has forcefully evicted Changsha Village locals in order to re-appropriate their land for commercial use."

The horrifying incident was censored by China's state-controlled media, but was leaked online among users of Weibo - the country's version of Twitter.

It bears a tragic resemblance to the student protesters crushed by tanks in Tianamen Square.

An official silence has been maintained by the Chinese regime over the killing of students and activists by the military on 3 June 1989, so much so that online search engines in China have blocked the term “Tiananmen Square”.